I
I (also known as Shankar's I) is a 2015 Indian Tamil romantic thriller film written and directed by S. Shankar and co-written by Subha. Produced and distributed by V. Ravichandran under his production company, Aascar Films, the film features Vikram and Amy Jackson in lead roles while Suresh Gopi, Upen Patel, Santhanam and Ramkumar Ganesan portray pivotal roles. The soundtrack and film score were composed by A. R. Rahman. Production design was handled by T. Muthuraj. P. C. Sreeram was the film's cinematographer and editing was done by Anthony. The visual effects were designed by V. Srinivas Mohan through Rising Sun Pictures. Weta Workshop had worked on the digital and prosthetic make-up and background arts for the film. Principal photography commenced on 15 July 2012. The filming lasted for two years and eight months, during which shooting was done extensively in China. Further schedules were filmed in locations in Chennai, Bangkok, Jodhpur, Kodaikanal, Pollachi, Bangalore and Mysore. The film was dubbed and released in Telugu and Hindi along with the Tamil version. The film, released on 14 January 2015, tells the story of a body builder turned super model, played by Vikram, who after being deformed, exacts revenge upon those who responsible for his predicament. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics, who praised Vikram's performance and the technical aspects of the film, but criticised the writing and the film's excessive length. Plot Lingesan (Vikram) is a bodybuilder from the suburbs of Chennai, whose main ambition is to become Mr. India. He wins the title of Mr. Tamil Nadu, which gives him entry to the Mr. India pageant. He is infatuated by Diya (Amy Jackson), a leading supermodel. Diya is soon blacklisted and all her advertisement film contracts are cancelled by John (Upen Patel), her co-star in all her advertisements, after she constantly rejected his advances. To save her career, Diya decides to replace John with Lingesan, whom she had earlier met at one of her shoots, as her co-star for her next advertisement. Lingesan agrees, sacrificing his Mr. India ambitions in the process. Lingesan is given a makeover by Diya's stylist, a transgender woman Osma Jasmine (Ojas Rajani). The shoot initially does not go well as Lingesan is shy and awkward around Diya. On her director's advice, Diya pretends to fall in love with Lingesan so that he would loosen up and perform better during the shoot. The plan proves successful and gradually both excel in the modelling industry as the lead pair. As time passes, Diya reciprocates Lingesan's love for her and they soon get engaged. In his journey from a bodybuilder to a top model, Lingesan makes many enemies, including John, whose modelling career was ruined due to Lingesan's rising popularity; Osma, who was infatuated by Lingesan and proposed to him, only to be rejected; industrialist Indrakumar (Ramkumar Ganesan), whose company suffered losses when Lingesan refused to endorse their soft drink as it was reported to contain pesticides; and another bodybuilder Ravi (M. Kamaraj), who also competed for the Mr. Tamil Nadu title but lost to Lingesan. These four people conspire to take revenge on Lingesan and destroy his fame and modelling career. Two days before his wedding, Lingesan slowly starts to experience hair and teeth loss and a skin disorder. He consults his friend Dr. Vasudevan (Suresh Gopi), who is also the guardian of Diya's family. Vasudevan informs him that he is suffering from a rare and incurable genetic disease which results in premature ageing. Lingesan's condition worsens, with his face and body deforming, and eventually he becomes a hunchback. In his current condition, Lingesan decides to disappear from public eye and also from Diya's life by faking his death in a car accident. Only his close friend Babu (Santhanam) and Vasudevan know that he is alive. Lingesan asks Vasudevan to marry Diya as he is the only person who will be able to understand Diya's past and present situation. Vasudevan relents and the wedding is fixed. On the eve of the wedding, another doctor reveals to Lingesan that, contrary to Vasudevan's claims, he is actually suffering from H4N2 influenza, caused by the "I" virus, which can only be transmitted by injection. He discovers that John, Osma, Indrakumar, Ravi and, to his horror, even Vasudevan, are responsible for injecting the virus into his body. Vasudevan had an insatiable lust for Diya since she was a teenager and was enraged when she chose Lingesan over him. Therefore, he sided with Lingesan's enemies and planned the entire operation to get Lingesan injected with the virus. An enraged and betrayed Lingesan abducts Diya on her wedding day and keeps her safely in an old house without revealing his identity to her. Aided by Babu, Lingesan starts taking revenge on those who had deformed him. He first immolates Ravi, who suffers severe burns. He then prepares a paste which Osma applies on her body, causing her body to sprout huge growths of hair. Next, he subjects Indrakumar to bee stings all over his body. He fights John over a moving train and gets him electrocuted, though he survives. Finally, he gets Vasudevan to unwittingly inject a virus into himself, causing his whole body to swell up. After he has avenged those who ruined him, Lingesan reveals his condition to Diya, who, though initially taken aback, still loves him despite his deformity. They decide to live a secluded life together. Lingesan undergoes ayurvedic treatment for his condition and eventually returns to his normal self. Cast *Vikram as Lingesan (Lee) (Main Protagonist) *Amy Jackson as Diya *Suresh Gopi as Dr. Vasudevan (Main Antagonist) *Santhanam as Babu (Lee's Friend) *Upen Patel as John (Antagonist) *Ramkumar Ganesan as Indra Kumar (Antagonist) *Ojas Rajani as Osma Jasmine (Antagonist) *M. Kamaraj as Ravi (Antagonist) *Mahru Sheikh as Diya's Mother *Azhagu as Lingesan's father *T. K. Kala as Lingesan's mother *Mohan Kapoor as an ad film-maker *Srinivasan as Keerthivasan *R. Sarathkumar in a cameo appearance External links * Category:Films Category:2015 release Category:Action Films